Longest Lived Olympic Athletics Records

What are the longest lived Olympic records? Well, Olympic records can only be set in certain sports. At the Summer Games, this includes athletics (track & field), swimming, shooting, weightlifting, archery, and Olympic bests are usually considered now in rowing and canoeing. At the Winter Games, the measured sports are speed skating and short-track speed skating, with the best jumps measured in ski jumping.

Let’s consider only athletics at the Summer Olympics for starters. And we have to make some assumptions, as we commonly do. We’re going to consider marks that have lasted the most Olympics, because the gap from 1936-48 and 1912-20 artificially made records last longer that were set in 1912 or 1932-36. So we’ll consider Olympics Between (OlyBT below) and Years Between (YrsBT below). Also, some marks were set a number of Olympics ago but are still the best on record. We’ll consider all of those to last until 2016 (at a minimum, that is true).

Given that, here are all the athletics Olympic records that have lasted 20+ years or 5 or more Olympics.

OlyBT

YrBT

Event

Mark

Athlete(s)

NOC

Year

City

12

48

LJ

8.90A

Bob Beamon

USA

1968

Mexico City

7

28

Steeplechase

8:05.51

Julius Kariuki

KEN

1988

Seoul

7

28

SP

22.47

Ulf Timmermann

GDR

1988

Seoul

7

28

HT

84.80

Sergey Litvinov

URS

1988

Seoul

6

24

400

43.86A

Lee Evans

USA

1968

Mexico City

6

24

5K

13:05.59

Saïd Aouita

MAR

1984

Los Angeles

6

24

Marathon

2-09:21.0

Carlos Lopes

POR

1984

Los Angeles

6

24

400IH

46.78

Kevin Young

USA

1992

Barcelona

6

24

4×400

2:56.16A

Matthews/Freeman/James/Evans

USA

1968

Mexico City

6

24

LJ

7.765

Bob LeGendre

USA

1924

Paris

5

24

HT

54.74

Matt McGrath

USA

1912

Stockholm

5

20

100

9.95A

Jim Hines

USA

1968

Mexico City

5

20

200

[21.6]

Archie Hahn

USA

1904

St. Louis

5

20

400

43.49

Michael Johnson

USA

1996

Atlanta

5

20

50KM Wk

3-38:29

Vyacheslav Ivanenko

URS

1988

Seoul

5

20

HJ

2.39

Charles Austin

USA

1996

Atlanta

5

20

TJ

17.39A

Viktor Saneyev

URS

1968

Mexico City

5

20

TJ

18.09

Kenny Harrison

USA

1996

Atlanta

5

20

Deca

8847

Daley Thompson

GBR

1984

Los Angeles

3

20

4×400

3:08.2

Fuqua/Ablowich/Warner/Carr

USA

1932

Los Angeles

3

20

JT

72.71

Matti Järvinen

FIN

1932

Los Angeles

9

36

800

1:53.43

Nadezhda Olizarenko

URS

1980

Moscow

9

36

SP

22.41

Ilona Schoknecht-Slupianek

GDR

1980

Moscow

8

32

4×100

41.60

Müller/Eckert-Wöckel/Auerswald-Lange/Oelsner-Göhr

GDR

1980

Moscow

7

28

100

10.62

Florence Griffith Joyner

USA

1988

Seoul

7

28

200

21.34

Florence Griffith Joyner

USA

1988

Seoul

7

28

1500

3:54.0

Paula Ivan

ROU

1988

Seoul

7

28

4×400

3:15.18

Ledovskaya/Nazarova/Pinigina/Bryzgina

URS

1988

Seoul

7

28

LJ

7.40

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

USA

1988

Seoul

7

28

DT

72.30

Martina Hellmann

GDR

1988

Seoul

7

28

Hept

7291

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

USA

1988

Seoul

5

20

400

48.25

Marie-José Pérec

FRA

1996

Atlanta

1

32

800

2:16.8

Lina Radke-Batschauer

GER

1928

Amsterdam

Now there are caveats, as there usually are. Beamon’s miracle long jump in Mexico City will last at least 48 years, through 2016, and likely longer, as there is nobody on the horizon about to better 8.90 metres. But the mark was altitude-aided, and the Association of Track & Field Statisticians (ATFS), of which I am a member, usually considers altitude-aided marks in the sprints and horizontal jumps differently. The next best among men, and the top two marks for women, were both set in the 1980s, and shall we say, there are a number of rumors about marks set in that era. If you look at the women’s marks, unfortunately, everything was set from 1980-88 until we get to Marie-José Péréc’s 400 metre mark of 48.25 set in Atlanta in 1996. Please also note Lina Radke-Batschauer’s 800 metre mark from Amsterdam. While it lasted until 1960, it only lasted 1 Olympics, because women did not run the 800 metres from 1932-56.

Of the remaining men’s marks, the one that looks to me to have the best chance to continue to rule is Kevin Young’s 400 hurdles mark of 46.78, set in Barcelona. He remains the only hurdler to better 47 seconds, and nobody is threatening that mark these days. Among the women, nobody is approaching all those Olympic records from the 1980s.

What about the best marks by event. Here they are, for men and women, with a few extras thrown in to cover the various “yeah, buts …”:

Men

OlyBT

YrBT

Event

Mark

Athlete(s)

NOC

Year

City

5

20

100

9.95A

Jim Hines

USA

1968

Mexico City

5

20

200

21.6

Archie Hahn

USA

1904

St. Louis

6

24

400

43.86A

Lee Evans

USA

1968

Mexico City

5

20

400

43.49

Michael Johnson

USA

1996

Atlanta

4

16

800

1:42.58

Vebjørn Rodal

NOR

1996

Atlanta

3

16

800

1:51.9

Ted Meredith

USA

1912

Stockholm

2

16

800

1:49.7

Tommy Hampson

GBR

1932

Los Angeles

4

16

1500

3:34.91

Kip Keino

KEN

1968

Mexico City

4

16

1500

3:32.53

Sebastian Coe

GBR

1984

Los Angeles

4

16

1500

3:32.07

Noah Ngeny

KEN

2000

Sydney

2

16

1500

3:47.8

Jack Lovelock

NZL

1936

Berlin

6

24

5K

13:05.59

Saïd Aouita

MAR

1984

Los Angeles

4

16

10K

27:38.34

Lasse Virén

FIN

1972

Munich

2

16

10K

30:11.4

Janusz Kusociński

POL

1932

Los Angeles

6

24

Marathon

2-09:21.0

Carlos Lopes

POR

1984

Los Angeles

7

28

Steeplechase

8:05.51

Julius Kariuki

KEN

1988

Seoul

3

12

110HH

13.24

Rod Milburn

USA

1972

Munich

3

12

110HH

12.91

Liu Xiang

CHN

2004

Athens

2

12

110HH

15.0

Forrest Smithson

USA

1908

London

1

12

110HH

14.1

Forrest Towns

USA

1936

Berlin

6

24

400IH

46.78

Kevin Young

USA

1992

Barcelona

3

12

20K Wk

1-19:57

Jozef Pribilinec

TCH

1988

Seoul

3

12

20K Wk

1-18:59

Robert Korzeniowski

POL

2000

Sydney

5

20

50K Wk

3-38:29

Vyacheslav Ivanenko

URS

1988

Seoul

4

16

4×100

37.40

Marsh/Burrell/Mitchell/Lewis

USA

1992

Barcelona

6

24

4×400

2:56.16A

Matthews/Freeman/James/Evans

USA

1968

Mexico City

5

20

HJ

2.39

Charles Austin

USA

1996

Atlanta

2

16

PV

4.35

Earle Meadows

USA

1936

Berlin

2

8

PV

4.09

Frank Foss

USA

1920

Antwerp

2

8

PV

5.78

Władysław Kozakiewicz

POL

1980

Moscow

2

8

PV

5.90

Sergey Bubka

URS

1988

Seoul

2

8

PV

5.92

Jean Galfione

FRA

1996

Atlanta

2

8

PV

5.92

Igor Trandenkov

RUS

1996

Atlanta

2

8

PV

5.92

Andrej Tiwontschik

GER

1996

Atlanta

12

48

LJ

8.90A

Bob Beamon

USA

1968

Mexico City

6

24

LJ

7.765

Bob LeGendre

USA

1924

Paris

5

20

TJ

17.39A

Viktor Saneyev

URS

1968

Mexico City

5

20

TJ

18.09

Kenny Harrison

USA

1996

Atlanta

7

28

SP

22.47

Ulf Timmermann

GDR

1988

Seoul

3

12

DT

68.28

Mac Wilkins

USA

1976

Montreal

3

12

DT

69.89

Virgilijus Alekna

LTU

2004

Athens

2

12

DT

45.21

Armas Taipale

FIN

1912

Stockholm

1

12

DT

50.48

Ken Carpenter

USA

1936

Berlin

7

28

HT

84.80

Sergey Litvinov

URS

1988

Seoul

3

20

JT

72.71

Matti Järvinen

FIN

1932

Los Angeles

3

12

JT

85.71

Egil Danielsen

NOR

1956

Melbourne

3

12

JT

94.58

Miklós Németh

HUN

1976

Montreal

5

20

Deca

8847

Daley Thompson

GBR

1984

Los Angeles

Women

OlyBT

YrBT

Event

Mark

Athlete(s)

NOC

Year

City

7

28

100

10.62

Florence Griffith Joyner

USA

1988

Seoul

7

28

200

21.34

Florence Griffith Joyner

USA

1988

Seoul

5

20

400

48.25

Marie-José Pérec

FRA

1996

Atlanta

9

36

800

1:53.43

Nadezhda Olizarenko

URS

1980

Moscow

7

28

1500

3:54.0

Paula Ivan

ROU

1988

Seoul

4

16

5K

14:40.79

Gabriela Szabo

ROU

2000

Sydney

2

8

10K

31:05.21

Olga Bondarenko

URS

1988

Seoul

2

8

10K

30:17.49

Derartu Tulu

ETH

2000

Sydney

2

8

10K

29:54.66

Tirunesh Dibaba

ETH

2008

Beijing

4

16

Marathon

2-24:52

Joan Benoit

USA

1984

Los Angeles

4

16

100HH

12.38

Yordanka Donkova

BUL

1988

Seoul

2

8

400IH

53.17

Debbie Flintoff-King

AUS

1988

Seoul

2

8

400IH

52.82

Deon Hemmings

JAM

1996

Atlanta

2

8

400IH

52.64

Melaine Walker

JAM

2008

Beijing

2

8

Steeplechase

8:58.81

Gulnara Galkina-Samytova

RUS

2008

Beijing

2

8

20KM Wk

1-29:05

Wang Liping

CHN

2000

Sydney

8

32

4×100

41.60

Müller/Eckert-Wöckel/Auerswald-Lange/Oelsner-Göhr

GDR

1980

Moscow

7

28

4×400

3:15.18

Ledovskaya/Nazarova/Pinigina/Bryzgina

URS

1988

Seoul

3

12

HJ

2.06

Yelena Slesarenko

RUS

2004

Athens

2

16

HJ

1.67

Jean Shiley

USA

1932

Los Angeles

2

8

PV

5.05

Yelena Isinbayeva

RUS

2008

Beijing

7

28

LJ

7.40

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

USA

1988

Seoul

3

12

TJ

15.33

Inessa Kravets

UKR

1996

Atlanta

9

36

SP

22.41

Ilona Schoknecht-Slupianek

GDR

1980

Moscow

7

28

DT

72.30

Martina Hellmann

GDR

1988

Seoul

1

4

HT

71.16

Kamila Skolimowska

POL

2000

Sydney

1

4

HT

75.02

Olga Kuzenkova

RUS

2004

Athens

1

4

HT

76.34

Aksana Miankova

BLR

2008

Beijing

1

4

HT

78.18

Tatyana Lysenko

RUS

2012

London

3

12

JT

74.68

Petra Felke-Meier

GDR

1988

Seoul

3

12

JT

71.53

Osleidys Menéndez

CUB

2004

Athens

2

8

Pent

5246

Irina Press

URS

1964

Tokyo

2

8

Pent

4801

Mary Peters

GBR

1972

Munich

7

28

Hept

7291

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

USA

1988

Seoul

We’ll look at a similar analysis for the swimming Olympic records in a few weeks.